Crest
by Ai Enmaxjigoku shoujo
Summary: The people of Samezuka age exactly like humans do – as far as Aiichiro was concerned, they were exactly alike – the only difference being that Nitori could live and breathe beneath the water's surface. [Cover Art credit goes to: うきお. I'll link you if you message me.]
1. Chapter 1

The ocean floor is warm – composed of soft white sand that stretched endlessly, the surface smooth and sparkling as if it were a sea of jewels. This is home – the town of Samezuka. Adobe-esque buildings crafted from sand packed tight, lined the streets - each building adorned with gems of every color save for the stones that glowed red – for those were rare and forbidden – so much in fact that Aiichiro had never seen one.

A herd of small fish bustled by, bringing with it a soft current, and Nitori moved out of the way – playfully poking the hind end of one fish that lingered behind – his gentle touch startling the creature, freezing it in place before it scurried off to join the others. Aiichiro watched them go with the barest hints of a smile, absently waving his raised hand in a gesture of goodbye. It was the kind of action that made Nitori's classmates tease him. Not that Aiichiro minded – it was all in fun and so he didn't take the words of the other kids to heart. He had made several friends amongst the kids in his neighborhood, so it wasn't as if everyone teased him – just the bigger kids – the ones who had bulked up a lot sooner than Nitori had. His body stature was actually the brunt of most of their jokes – but it wasn't as if size mattered and it wasn't like Nitori wasn't just skin and bones – he had a couple muscles here and there developing from helping his mother in the garden. He was sure, that in no time, he would sprout like the vegetables he and his mother cared for.

Even though the other kids teasings didn't really bother Aiichiro, he still tended to distance himself from them - and so as soon as school let out, he'd head to the outskirts of town. To do so he had to pass through the town square – the area busy and bustling with shops. The sea towns like Samezuka were small – practically villages - and so beneath the ocean's surface they operated on a trading system. Some men would hunt fish (though unlike the people who lived in the town of Iwatobi up on the surface, they had strict fishing rules and hunting was done outside of town – so the colorful fish that usually drifted through were off limits and were the equivalent to the stray cat or dog one might see on the surface) while some men would farm. Samezuka was known for its unique fruit and vegetables – unique because they could only be grown in sea villages – so they fetched quite a hefty sum at the market on the pier. Nitori wasn't quite sure how surface jobs for sea dwellers worked, but some of the adults commuted to and from Iwatobi on a daily basis. The money the humans used was useless down here in Samezuka so not that many people chose to work on land, but the ones that did always came back with delicacies like beef jerky or watermelon. Nitori had never had beef before – only knew that it was made from cows. (Of course, Nitori had never seen a cow in person – only in school books.) And Aiichiro wasn't quite sure how it was possible for people who lived on land to grow watermelon either – but again Nitori had never seen or tasted one and they certainly didn't grow in the ocean.

The town center was bustling with activity as usual and Aiichiro was easily swallowed up by the crowd – being eleven years old and small for his age made it easy for Nitori to slip through unnoticed - and within a matter of minutes he was moving further and further from the town's cacophony of sounds until he was on the outskirts of Samezuka. The quietness outside of town was something Nitori took comfort in – he didn't necessarily like being alone, but there was definitely something quite enjoyable about it.

Nitori spent a lot of his time lingering towards the surface – it wasn't as if he disliked Samezuka, but once he got up to shallow enough waters he could see the sun reflecting off the water – shimmering through the waves. The surface water was warm – but a different kind of warmth then Aiichiro was used to. The water he lived in was clear – so much so that if the people on the surface – or so some of the adults say – were to, during the summer solstice, - when the sun was at its peak brightness - get on a boat directly above their city, then they could see the tops of buildings – the sun penetrative enough to make all the jewels on the town's buildings glimmer. Aiichiro wondered if the people of Iwatobi thought it was as beautiful as he himself imagined it to be.

Occasionally, Nitori would poke his head above the surface – admiring the way the gentle rays of the sun caressed the side of his face and relishing in the way the wind lightly tousled his fast-drying silver locks.

The people of Samezuka aged exactly like the humans do – as far as Aiichiro was concerned, they were exactly alike – the only difference being that Nitori could live and breathe beneath the water's surface. Of course, Nitori had never actually met anyone who lived on the surface – Samezuka had a strict rule that no one under the age of sixteen could go out onto land. The rule was because if a child of the sea lingered on the surface for too long, then they would be unable to return to the ocean's depths. Aiichiro couldn't explain it on a biological standpoint, but in laymen's terms, the people of Samezuka had an extra layer of translucent skin around their body that the humans did not. It was similar to a fishes scale – it protected them and kept them from pruning like humans tended to do when soaked in water for too long – it was also what allowed them to breath under the water and every child of the sea was born with it. Of course, a child's skin was a lot thinner than those of the adults and as such dried up quicker – as it dried, the extra layer would flake off like dead skin if it became cracked enough. It didn't mean death or anything – as beneath their somewhat scales was your ordinary human skin. However, if a person of the sea lost that extra layer of protection, then they would no longer be able to breath beneath the surface.

Fortunately, once the people of Samezuka had matured enough – roughly about the age of sixteen – they could manage a day's time on the surface before their layer began to dry up. So once eligible, if a child of the sea wanted to attend specialty school on the surface, or get a job, they were allowed to. Of course, plenty of sea folk chose not to go – in fact neither of Aiichiro's parents had ever left Samezuka – but Nitori was positive that when the time came, he would definitely go.

So technically, at Nitori's age, he shouldn't be coming up to the surface like this – but it wasn't as if he was leaving the ocean, and so it wasn't like he was breaking any rules, and most importantly, it wasn't like he was putting himself at risk.

Aiichiro came up to the water's surface roughly once a week – mainly just to stare up at the sky in fascination (absently hoping his face doesn't tan). Not too far from where he typically popped up, was a pier. It was also a dock for smaller boats – though many preferred to use the other one further down the coast. The pier was a concrete one that stretched far out into the waters and on the side facing Nitori steep steps stippled down the side that led directly into the water – it was where people from Samezuka usually walked up. This side of the ocean was a lot more industrial - with only a small sliver of sand visible – the rest blocked by a wall and a road just past it. The other side of the beach – in the opposite direction of the other dock, was where the beach was open to the public – there was a drastically larger amount of beach sand on that side, and the wall was even further back to make room for a line of small restaurants and rest houses for the people who played on the beach to go to. That section of the beach however was always crowded and fortunately, far - far away from where Nitori was now. He'd only been on that side of the coast once and promptly stayed away after his first visit – scared someone might spot him.

The people of Samezuka and the people of Iwatobi got along fairly well – but they had their differences and some people weren't as accepting of the sea folk's presence. Nitori had heard stories of Iwatobi children spitting wads of paper at the sea folk or calling them names – nothing too bad – just things children did when they were presented with something new. The adults he had heard the stories from didn't really take it to heart – they were children after all. In fact, it might even be where Nitori got his mindset to not let the words of the other kids his age bug him. In a way, he was preparing himself for the future. That being said, Aiichiro hoped that people would be more accepting then, but it was far easier to conform to the normalcy of disliking the sea folk then to transform the people's beliefs as a whole.

The shrill cry of a child's laugh reached Nitori's ears, snapping him out of his daydreams and his eyes flew towards the pier where a group of kids – probably around Aiichiro's age, if not older – were racing along the pier. Nitori ducked down, submerging himself under the water just until the water's edge rested beneath his eyes. The children didn't even glance his way, and instead of shooting off down towards Samezuka, he lingered in the waters and watched. They were horse-playing – pushing and shoving each other and laughing all the while. The kids in Nitori's class played that way too, though Aiichiro had never joined them – partly because he was never invited and partly because he didn't want to join anyway.

It was when one of the bigger kids – a boy with dark, choppy hair - pushed a slightly shorter boy down, that things took a turn for the worse. Nitori was too far to really see facial expressions, and so he naturally assumed that the fallen kid would start crying – that was what Nitori would have done. But instead, the red-haired boy launched to his feet and took a swing at the other boy – hands curled into a fist – and decked the bigger kid in the face.

Nitori gasped – watching in awe as the red-haired boy tackled the other one to the ground, and he could only look on as they rolled around punching and kicking – the one other kid just staring, mouth agape.

Just when Aiichiro was wondering if he should do something – though hardly knowing what exactly to do – a man's voice boomed 'HEY' from the road and surprised, Nitori turned his attention to the man running towards the children who had quickly separated.

The man grabbed the red-head by the shoulder roughly – who stared down at his shoes, body trembling. The other two kids quickly scurried off, and the man clamped his other hand on the boy's shoulder and steered him to look at him.

"What were you thinking?!" the man bellowed, "This is the third fight this week – what's gotten into you? Do you know how much you worry your mother and I when you act out like this? What's eating at you Rin?"

The man stopped, waiting for an answer and NItori - not wanting to intrude any longer - took the other boy's silence as his cue to leave.

He wondered if the surface children were always that violent – or if such acts were reserved for the bad seeds. It made him weary nonetheless and Aiichiro played with the idea of asking an adult - but that would surely give away his weekly escapades and Nitori wasn't quite ready to jump that hurdle – his mother would probably have a heart attack, and if she didn't his father would.

Speaking of his mother, she was surely wondering where he was by now - so he hurried home – the descent much quicker than the swim to the surface.

* * *

Aiichiro's mother was a flamboyant women with short – shoulder length hair that naturally curled at the ends. She was standing at the kitchen counter peeling potatoes, that his father had gotten in town last week, when he walked in.

"Welcome back," she greeted, "How was school?"

Nitori took his time answering – describing in detail the things he had learned and fudging the truth a bit when she asked what he had been up to until now. They fell into a comfortable silence, Nitori scrubbing the peeled potatoes clean as his mother moved to the sink.

Aiichiro always helped his mother cook dinner – not because he had to per say – but mostly because there wasn't much to do here in Samezuka. It was probably part of the reason he yearned to go to Iwatobi so much - unfortunately, it seemed the older he got, the longer the days seemed to drag out.

The first time he expressed his interest in Iwatobi to his mother, she had cried – a mix of coos of how brave he was and sniffles and whines of her not wanting to be apart from her baby boy for even a minute.

A little known fact about the people of the sea – and another quirk about them that set themselves apart from the humans - was that tears and blood, amongst other things, were a bit different for the people of Samezuka.

Of course, this fact was kept strictly to themselves – the elders fearing that humans would take advantage of it should they know.

In the instance of crying, it was – at first – just like humans, but as soon as it rolled off their cheeks it would drop to the ground with a solid 'thunk'. In short – their tears would turn to beryl - usually in a shade of rich blue aquamarine.

The stones were, on occasion tear dropped shaped, but mostly they were round and smooth with no clear cut. There was a jewelry shop in the center of town that would cut and mount the stones into necklaces, earrings, and most often ornaments for their homes.

Jewlery from Samezuka fetched a large price in Iwatobi, but again, because the sea folk didn't use their money beneath the surface, many chose not to sell any - therefore making them a rarity on land even though Nitori was used to seeing them in such abundance.

In fact, if Nitori checked the hutch in the dining room, there were several of his own tears placed on display – things like 'Baby's first tear' and his mother even wore a necklace around her neck made up of the tears his father had shed on their wedding day.

There were plenty of other jewels that the sea folk made but the beryl had to be the most common - and the happier the occasion at which they were shed - the brighter the color.

"Aiichiro sweetie," his mother called and Nitori stared up at her in question, "There's a storm coming soon so be sure to stay away from the surface for the next couple of days."

Nitori flushed red up to his ears, mouth opening and closing like the fish that swam by all the time – at a loss for words to say.

His mother only laughed – and ruffled his hair with her hand, "Don't think you can keep secrets from me young man - don't think I didn't notice how dark your cheeks have gotten recently."

Aiichiro smiled, and let out a small breath – relieved he wasn't in trouble - and lightly pressed his hands against the sides of his face.

"I trust you not to do anything you're not supposed to," his mother went on, "I'm putting all my faith in you alright?"

"Alright!"

It didn't need to be said, but Aiichiro knew this was his mother's way of having him promise to not go onto land until he was of age – and it was a promise he fully expected to keep.

Or at least, on that day, that had been his intention.


	2. Chapter 2

The next two weeks after the storm were spent repairing damages in town. The storm his mother had mentioned had apparently been pretty bad for Iwatobi. Tanaka-san – an elderly man that lived next door who worked shucking clams in a shop on the pier in Iwatobi – told Nitori last Wednesday that some nasty winds had whipped through town and uprooted some of the smaller shacks along the beach. The tide had rose as well and within moments the ocean had devoured twisted scraps of metal, broken shards of glass, and splintered wood with its gaping maw. Needless to say, Aiichiro had been pretty surprised when he had gone into town the following morning and seen the damage.

They had been unlucky that most of the debris had been flung straight at their town, but fortunately the damage was not something irreparable and most importantly none of them had been harmed. Still, it was slow work patching up buildings and cleaning up all the garbage.

A whole crop field had gotten torn up as well, and that was where it hurt them the most. Nitori was fortunate enough that his family had a private garden, but others were not so lucky. His father worked in the town hall and had come home one night exhausted from a hard day's of work, and Aiichiro listened as his father told his mother about the shortage of food. Some of the people who worked in Iwatobi suggested selling the crops that did survive and invest in some surface food for the time being until the next harvest. However, it had fallen through, because a mass majority of the village was wary of the surface people and avoided interaction with them as much as possible.

Tanaka-san had said it was "a damn shame" as Nitori had stood with him outside his home, listening to how great the pork was – a cut of meat that came from pigs apparently. Whatever pigs were.

After that, Aiichiro had excused himself and made his way to the surface and had watched from a safe distance in the water as men in uniforms had worked on reconstructing some buildings. He couldn't quite fathom how people on the surface could just hire workers to fix their problems for them. He knew it was a city thing – but it still seemed weird to him – though that was mostly because the sea people didn't deal with money.

What had taken Samezuka two weeks to repair, had taken Iwatobi half the time and within days the beach was bustling with people again and Nitori was steering clear of that area once more.

Since the storm, Aiichiro had not seen those kids on the pier again, and his days were once more back to their quiet repetitiveness. Still, on some days, as Nitori lie on his back, drifting with the current, he couldn't help but wonder how that boy was doing – the one who had been scolded by his father. Did he get in a lot of trouble? Was he confined to his room? Was he still friends with those other boys?

Aiichiro knew it wasn't any of his business and that he shouldn't concern himself with it, but that didn't change the fact that he still wanted to know. At first, he had thought the boy was violent just for the sake of being so, but the way he had tucked his head and balled his fist as his father spoke to him had made Nitori curious. He had been so wild just moments before and then within seconds he had become timid and quiet. He couldn't help but feel that something was eating at the boy, and Aiichiro really wanted to know what.

* * *

It was a full month later that Nitori finally saw that boy again. He had been floating on his back, eyes closed, and enjoying the sounds of the ocean when he heard footsteps and quickly dunked beneath the water. When he poked his head up above the surface a couple of seconds later, the boy was sitting on the pier, legs dangling over the edge as he grumbled quietly to himself. Aiichiro stared in shock for a moment, before swimming a little closer, being careful to stay out of the other boy's line of vision.

"Stupid dad," he muttered – Rin his name was, if Nitori remembered it right – and Aiichiro frowned. If the circumstances had been any different, Nitori would have definitely asked him if he was alright. Even though both of his parents could be a little over bearing sometimes, Aiichiro loved them unconditionally and he didn't think he'd ever truly been mad at his father. But Rin was clearly upset and he wished he could do something to help.

He stared a bit longer, frantically looking around the coast before diving under and swimming closer. He lingered beneath the surface on the right side of the pier, close enough he could grab Rin's leg if he wanted to, but angled so he was just out of site.

'I'm going to get in so much trouble,' Aiichiro thought, pacing back and forth beneath the water.

He took a deep breath; all he was going to do was ask if he was alright – that was it.

It took another couple of minutes for Nitori to build up enough courage, before slowly bringing his head up above the surface, "Are… you alright?" he asked and the boy flinched before quickly swiveling to look behind himself – Nitori ducking instinctively.

He didn't say anything though, so Nitori tried again, "Are you okay now?"

This time Rin started turning in his direction and so Nitori ducked with a splash – heart racing and praying he hadn't been seen.

He could see Rin as he stared down at the place Nitori had been moments before and so he swam a little lower – he was sure the shadow the pier casted on the water made it dark enough that he couldn't be seen but it was better safe than sorry.

Minutes passed with Rin still staring at the water and Aiichiro bit his lip – too afraid to come up again. He was hoping the other boy would tire of staring so hard, but his gaze was unwavering.

So Nitori waited – cheeks flushed red in embarrassment – each second ticking by ever so slowly; when finally, finally Rin sighed and looked away.

Aiichiro sighed in relief, before frowning as Rin got to his feet, cast one last lingering look at the water, before walking down the pier. Nitori slowly came up to the surface, watching his back as he went, and wishing he were a little braver.

* * *

Nitori wasn't feeling well when he got home, and with some assurance to his mother that 'it really isn't that bad' he made his way to his room and plopped down on his bed face first – hands sliding beneath his pillow as he buried his face into the soft surface.

His heart was still racing from earlier – it had been one-sided, but he'd spoken to someone from Iwatobi. He had, ultimately chickened out, and lying here he wished his mind had been more clear – wished he would have just swam to the other side of the pier and popped up there before trying to speak again.

His head was a mix of excitement and anxiety. He wanted to try again tomorrow – he would definitely try again tomorrow. His mother would surely be heartbroken if she even found out what he was planning but… there was something about the other boy that drew Nitori in. Maybe it was because he was human – maybe it was because he seemed to be lonely like Nitori was – but whatever it was, it was strong enough to make him want to try a little harder, to be a little braver, and to speak to the boy once more.

At dinner, Aiichiro half-listened to his father talk about work – wondering if Rin would be at the pier again tomorrow – wondering if the boy went there straight after school or if he went home first. Nitori didn't remember seeing him with a backpack, and that begged the question; did the backpacks in Iwatobi look like the ones in Samezuka did? Did they wear uniforms too?

He hoped the boy wouldn't be mean to him – hoped he was as interested in him as Aiichiro was in Rin. It was silly, but Nitori hoped they could be friends. That would be alright wouldn't it? He wasn't being too hopeful was he? Aiichiro hoped not.

Giddy, he gobbled up the rest of his food, placed his dishes in the sink, and then raced to his room after bidding his parents goodnight.

He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

Aiichiro was waiting beneath the surface by the pier when Rin showed up – hands stuffed in his pockets as he looked around. A small part of Nitori was hoping Rin was looking for him, but he quickly pushed that thought aside as the other boy sat down in the same way he had been yesterday.

'Alright Aiichiro, you can do this,' he told himself, taking deep breaths before coming up above the water – careful to be out of sight. He had a small speech prepared, and so long as Rin didn't interrupt him then this would end in his favor. 'Okay, here I go'.

"Hi! I'm from Samezuka and I'm not supposed to be talking to you but you looked sad yesterday so I thought I'd say hello – please don't look at me I'm shy!" the words tumbled out quickly and recklessly, like a wave crashing on the shore - and then hung in the silence that followed. Aiichiro gasped for air – eyes not leaving Rin's stiffened back. It seemed like minutes before the boy's shoulders drooped as he allowed himself to relax – no doubt startled by Nitori's earlier exclamation. Every second was tense, and the crashing waves on the beach rung in Aiichiro's ears like a ticking bomb as he waited with baited breath – body tense and on the ready to flee should he need to.

Nitori continued to wait in silence – a little put off that the other boy had yet to say a word - nerves on fire, and heart thudding in his chest as he ran over what he had said in his mind, wondering if he had made a mistake, wondering if maybe he hadn't been loud enough, wondering if the other boy had chosen to ignore him. Aiichiro certainly hoped it was not the latter.

"Umm…" he started – and it sounded pathetic even to him – quiet and shaky; Nitori wouldn't be surprised if this time Rin really hadn't heard him. He cleared his throat, "How are you?" Aiichiro hoped he didn't sound as desperate as he felt – but after having made up his mind last night, he'd been really excited about approaching the other boy again. Thinking back on it now, Nitori figured maybe it had been childish to think that they would suddenly become fast friends – especially since most of the kids in his class thought him to be a little too over-eager a majority of the time.

It was just as Nitori was thinking maybe he should just give up, stop making a fool of himself, and just go home; that Rin finally spoke, "Are you really from Samezuka?"

Aiichiro couldn't contain his gasp, "Yes! I am!"

He wished he could see Rin's facial expressions – because when he spoke again, "Really? That's so cool," back still obediently turned away as per his request, Nitori thought that maybe Rin was smiling.

* * *

Aiichiro learned very quickly that Rin had very little to say unless it had something to do with the things he was passionate about.

For the first week of their newfound friendship, Nitori just talked about himself and what it was like in Samezuka. He talked about the town center and how they didn't use money – he talked about what he had learned in school that particular day and talked about how they wore clothes despite what Rin seemed to believe and how their school uniform was white and Rin had been surprised by that, but not as surprised as Nitori had been when Rin had said that if he were to get his clothes wet they would get soggy and weigh him down. Nitori's clothes were wet to a degree he supposed, it was something he hadn't really noticed, but he noticed they'd become dry when he was above water – but they certainly didn't stick to him like glue when wet like Rin said his did. As far as Aiichiro was concerned, his clothes hadn't been made any differently. He had asked his father one night if their cloth was made differently or if it was just a sea folk thing, but his father had just looked confused and apologized about not having an answer. When Nitori asked Tanaka-san next door the next morning, the old man had just laughed and left Nitori just as confused as he had been yesterday.

Sometimes Rin would bring him candies or bread and in return Nitori would bring him something from the village. Some of the candies were melt in your mouth good and it was something Aiichiro was not used to. Samezuka didn't have chocolate – which in Nitori's opinion was the best thing in the whole world – and also really unfair if you asked him. Iwatobi though, didn't have star carrots, which Rin said were a lot sweeter than normal carrots(he called it normal but Aiichiro could hardly agree).

It was a full month and a half of meeting nearly every day before Aiichiro confessed to having seen him on the pier fighting, and another week before Rin talked about his father for the first time.

"He's an idiot," Rin had said, a bit more fired up than he usually was. When Nitori had asked him to elaborate, he had grown quiet – reflective – and Nitori wished more than ever he could see his face full-on.

"My old man's actually from the sea you know?" he went on to say, "He doesn't really talk about what it's like – but he says he won't ever go back. I think about Samezuka a lot – it's always seemed really cool to me and it sucks that I can't see it, but if it's as amazing as I think it is, I don't see why he won't go back."

It was confusing for Nitori. Rin's dad was from the sea? He'd heard about the occasional person leaving and never coming back – but it was rare, and something the adults definitely would not talk about with a child such as himself around. Even though Aiichiro was so fascinated with the surface, he couldn't imagine leaving Samezuka forever.

"I didn't know about it until recently – I don't know why he waited so long to say something. He knows how much I like Samezuka! So why would he hide it?"

And Nitori didn't have an answer.

"Anyway, it just makes me really angry. He's throwing away something amazing and for what? A crappy job as a fisherman?"

Aiichiro was quiet for the longest time, "But he has you doesn't he? And your mother and sister too." He finally said and Rin huffed.

"I know that… But still. He could go back and visit – he could get his family to come visit us – I bet they'd like to see their cute grandkids. But he's so stubborn and always says no. And it's so stupid and frustrating and I hate it. If I lived in Samezuka I would never leave and I think he's crazy for having done it in the first place!"

"… Maybe he was just curious about what it's like up here?" Nitori offered tentatively.

"I still think it's a waste. Besides, you were curious too but you haven't left the ocean yet – you won't even let me look at you. You're a lot smarter than my old man."

It was then that Nitori realized Rin probably didn't know about the rule – which said the children of the sea weren't allowed onto the surface until they were at least sixteen. He thought about telling Rin that that was why he didn't come up to sit with Rin on the pier, that that was why he wasn't out exploring the shops on the beach. In the end, he kept his lips sealed, because surely Rin would hate him too if Aiichiro expressed his desire to leave Samezuka - even if just for a day.


	3. Chapter 3

Nitori is floating on his back, eyes closed, as he chatters about his day, guard down because he's known Rin long enough, and trusts Rin enough to not look at him. He knows it doesn't really matter if Rin sees him or not, but to Nitori it's his way of not fully breaking his promise with his mother. Because even though he has not set foot on land, he still feels like he is somehow doing something he shouldn't be. Not allowing Rin to look at him is like his safeguard – with no face or name for Rin to see or hear, it's a bit like he doesn't exist. He does not think Rin will go around telling people he talks to him, but at least this way if he did and someone from Samezuka happened to hear, there was no proof it was Nitori.

"Oh!" Nitori exclaimed, shooting up, "I brought you something!"

Yesterday his mother had picked up some striped apples from the market and so Aiichiro had wanted to give one to Rin, "Close your eyes," he said even though Rin's back was turned to him.

"Alright, they're closed." Rin said and Nitori swam forward, grasped the cool concrete of the pier and hoisted himself up enough to place the striped apple next to Rin's side before flopping back down into the water.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now!"

Aiichiro watched, hands pressed to his lips, as Rin blindly grabbed the striped apple and then held it up in front of himself.

"Are you sure you didn't paint this?" he asked, sounding surprised and Nitori bet his eyes were really wide.

"I did not!" he exclaimed with a peal of laughter – one that Rin quickly joined in on.

"Alright I'm trying this now," he said once they'd both stopped giggling and Aiichiro waited with bated breath as he heard the crunch of the apple beneath Rin's teeth.

"It's sweet!" Rin exclaimed, "But not apple sweet. It kind of tastes like… hmm… apple pie?"

"Apple pie? It doesn't taste anything like apple pie to me."

"Well maybe not your apple pie," was Rin's retort before taking another bite of the apple, "This is really good."

"Hee hee, I'm glad~!"

* * *

"You've been awfully spirited lately," his mother commented at breakfast and Aiichiro flushed, nearly choking on the glob of rice in his mouth – his father coming to the rescue by lightly patting and rubbing gentle circles on his back.

"Th-thanks," he gasped as he swallowed his food, before turning his attention to his mother who looked a bit sheepish, "I'm as happy as I always am."

His mother simply hummed in response, eyes twinkling with mirth as she turned her attention to his father who was leaning back in his seat after having just aided Aiichiro.

"I'd say he looks like he's in love, what do you think dear?"

This time Nitori sputtered in disbelief – his reactions making both his parents laugh and Aiichiro pout and bury his face in his hands.

His father chuckled loudly, "Stop teasing him. Aiichiro your mother is just playing with you – we know why you've been so excited recently – no need to hide it."

Aiichiro froze. What? What?! Surely not. There was no way his parents knew he had been seeing Rin and they definitely wouldn't be this happy if they did.

"O-oh?"

"Yes!" his mother exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement, "It's because your birthday is next week!"

"Oh!" Oh that was right! It'd completely slipped his mind! Up until this point he hadn't even realized it was even possible to forget one's own birthday and yet here he was. Wow, he was really excited now. For how much he wished he was old enough to walk on land he didn't think he'd ever stop counting the days until his next birthday, "I'm really excited!" he chirped.

"Super excited!" and really he was – giddy with excitement really.

His mother and father chuckled at his antics, as Aiichiro started eating his breakfast with a renewed vigor. Next week would be his twelfth birthday – after that he only had to wait four more years. Just months ago he was thinking that it would take ages, but now that he had Rin to pass the time with, he felt like it would go so fast the days would blur.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

On Sundays his father had the day off, so after a late breakfast the family of three would make their way to the Sea Temple located in the opposite direction of Iwatobi's shores. They would go there to pray to the Sea God to thank him for his blessing – and express their gratitude for the gift of being able to live in Samezuka.

The Sea Temple was located in an underwater cave on the outskirts of town – despite the water being colder here, the path to the temple always felt warm – the walls of the cave dotted with the Sea God's fire – a purple flame that could not be distinguished by anything other than time. It was this same fire that allowed them to cook and heat their homes here in Samezuka - and yet another blessing of the Sea God they had to be thankful for.

The actual temple was made from the same sparkling white sand that their village was – though not a jewel could be seen decorating the surface. They prayed at the alter centered in front of the temple – his father stopping to greet a fellow co-worker with his mother as Aiichiro continued to step forward.

Unlike their homes, which often had wood or glass doors, the entrance to the temple was nothing more than an open doorway in the sand and if Nitori peered in, all he saw was pitch black darkness. No one but the village chief and a select few members of his choosing were allowed into the temple – where he would go twice a year to hold a ceremony. The details of the ceremony, Aiichiro did not know – but it was typically a joyous occasion where the people of Samezuka would hold a festival. Lanterns would be strewn up in the town center and there would be a feast and the children would play games as the adults drank in celebration.

When a child was born in Samezuka they were taken into the temple to personally receive the Sea God's blessing – it was said that without the God's blessing, a child's protective outer layer would melt away into sea foam, thus rendering it unable to live beneath the ocean's surface. Of course, Nitori had never actually heard of that happening, but it was worth mentioning because it was the first and most likely the last time a citizen of Samezuka would be allowed into the temple.

Like all children, Aiichiro was curious about what lie inside – some said that the temple was many chambers deep and that the Sea God himself resided there – while others said it was merely a vessel – one of the dragon's many scales that lie in wait inside.

Nitori had long since resigned himself to the fact that he would never know, but he still squinted at the dark doorway – wondering if he stared long enough if he'd be able to see even a little. But he was greeted with nothing more than a cold current that drifted from within.

* * *

Friday after school his parents had greeted him with a small birthday party. His father had gotten off work early to help his mother with the preparations – his favorite meal for dinner and a small roseberry shortcake.

Both his parents had sung him Happy Birthday – his mother a little too enthusiastic as she sang, but he and his father knew better than to comment on it. After dinner, Tanaka-san from next door came over to have cake and to drop off his present – a small action figure he'd bought in Iwatobi. His mother had knitted him a sweater and his father had gotten him a new journal and it was only later that night after Tanaka-san left and Nitori had sat down to write in his diary that he remembered he was supposed to be meeting Rin today.

It was way past his curfew and Aiichiro resigned himself to the fact that Rin had probably long since gone home, so he bit his lip and decided he would go straight to the pier tomorrow after class.

* * *

When Aiichiro reached the pier, Rin was angrily pacing back and forth – backpack tossed on the ground and Nitori felt bad because usually Rin stopped at home to change first and drop his things off.

"Hi," he greeted when Rin had paced back towards his usual spot and Nitori watched as the red-haired boy froze, before promptly sitting on the ground, legs crossed beneath him.

"Where were you?!" Rin demanded and Nitori shrunk in on himself a bit – he'd already felt bad enough, but having Rin scold him definitely made things worse.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, hoping he sounded as genuine as he felt, "Yesterday was my birthday and my parents threw me a surprise party so I wasn't able to-"

"What?" Rin cut him off, sounding one hundred percent angrier than he had the moment before, and Aiichiro sunk down in the water to his chin.

"Uhm… I couldn't come yesterday because it was my birthday?" he offered tentatively and Rin huffed like he tended to do whenever Nitori had said something he thought was stupid.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well like I said, it was a surprise party so it… surprised me?"

"Not that you idiot!" Rin snapped and Aiichiro squeaked in response.

"Why didn't you tell me your birthday was coming up?!" he demanded, back stiff and Nitori thought Rin was probably trying really hard not to turn and look at him.

"Oh… Well I didn't think to." Aiichiro said, voice dripping with sorrow.

"I'm sorry," he offered when Rin failed to say something, "I didn't think it mattered."

"Of course it matters!" Rin yelled, shooting back up into a standing position – Nitori instinctively dipping beneath the water.

"Wait here," he said, scooping up his backpack – eyes resolutely aimed up at the sky, "And don't you dare leave!" and with those final words, Rin was darting off in the direction of town, leaving Aiichiro alone and confused.

* * *

Nitori had been waiting for over an hour, growing a little more worried and a little more impatient as time passed. The sun would be setting soon and that was both his and Rin's cue to go home. He was a little disappointed that they weren't spending time together, especially since they hadn't gotten to yesterday, but he pushed those feelings aside in favor of wondering what it was Rin had run off to do.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes - the sky smudged orange and pink - Nitori spotted Rin running on the street in the distance, and so he quickly sunk beneath the water to wait for Rin.

"He-hey," Rin panted, out of breath as he plopped down in his spot - this time his legs dangling over the edge of the pier like usual.

"Where'd you go?" Aiichiro asked curiously and when Rin spoke Nitori could hear the pride in his voice.

"I got you a birthday present," he said and Aiichiro flushed in embarrassment.

"You didn't have to do that!" he practically yelled, but Rin just waved his hand in dismissal.

Normally when they traded things, Rin would just drop the item into the water so Nitori dived under water in preparation – and to hopefully smother a bit of his embarrassment.

When nothing dropped into the water after a minute however, Nitori swam back to his spot behind Rin and came up, "Rin?" he asked and the other boy grunted in response.

"Can I have my present?" he asked and Rin nodded his head.

"Uhm," he started, just as Nitori went to dive under again, "I want to put it on you."

So much for covering up his embarrassment – Aiichiro was sure he was redder now than he had been in his whole life.

"… Okay," he said after a moments pause, watching as Rin bopped his head in response, "Close your eyes?"

"Okay yeah, they're closed." Rin responded, and Nitori tentatively swam closer, low in the water as he peeked to make sure Rin's eyes really were closed, before wading in front of him.

It was the first time he'd ever seen the other boy face to face and when he spoke Rin flinched slightly, "What kind of present is it?"

"It's a bracelet," Rin said, and Nitori's eyes fell on his lap, where his hands were balled into a loose fist – bracelet cupped there.

"Oh," was Nitori's response as he placed his hands on the pier's surface between Rin's legs, pulling himself up a little bit – body stiff.

This was the closest he had ever been to Rin, and it was somehow embarrassing, "You're really pretty," he said the words without thinking – wishing he could swallow them back when Rin flinched again and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

"Give me your wrist!" he snapped in response, holding one of his hands out, and red-faced Aiichiro placed his right hand in Rin's – this time not commenting on how soft and warm he thought the other boy's skin to be.

Rin squeezed his hand, before he was unclenching his other fist and slipping a small bracelet over Aiichiro's hand.

Nitori's eyes were trained on Rin's face the entire time – admiring the soft line of his jaw and how smooth his hair seemed to be, and it was a little bit surprising how gentle Rin looked, considering how he liked to talk tough all the time, but Rin really was just a sweet kid at heart.

Aiichiro waited for Rin to release his wrist before he was plopping back down in the water and swimming back to where he usually stayed, before looking at the bracelet.

It was comprised of small, round, red and blue beads and when Nitori turned his wrist he was greeted with square, white beads with letters that spelt out "Best Friends."

"I know it's not the best," Rin started, "But none of the shops nearby had anything good and I had to run home and to steal some of my sister's art supplies and so I made it really quick and it would have definitely looked better if you had told me about your birthday ahead of time."

Nitori shook his head, even though Rin couldn't see it, "No – this is great. I love it. Thank you very much."

"Yeah," was Rin's response, and Nitori watched as he scratched at the back of his head, "Don't mention it."

They talked only for a little bit longer before bidding each other farewell – the sun having nearly set. They promised to meet up again tomorrow and Aiichiro stared at his new bracelet the entire way home.

Unfortunately, they didn't have beads like this in Samezuka, so Nitori – a bit regretful – slid the bracelet into the bottom of his pillowcase.

He wrote a quick entry in his diary, before practically diving into bed – hand slipping into his pillow case and clutching the bracelet as he slept.


	4. Chapter 4

It is the morning after his birthday, and Nitori groggily blinks his eyes open. There is a stream of light filtering in through his window and it's only when he tiredly raises an arm to cover his eyes that Aiichiro realizes he is wearing the bracelet Rin had given him. Bright red, he brings his arm up and away from himself to hold it above his head – admiring the piece of jewelry – it is a bit too big on his wrist and slides down a good portion of his arm but he quite likes it this way – it'll be a long time before he grows out of it.

'I want to see Rin,' he thinks, cradling his arm to his chest – his other hand wrapping around where the bracelet is. He closes his eyes and can almost feel the soft brush of Rin's hand on his own – and his cheeks feel hot as he remembers how soft and warm the other boys skin had been. He thinks about Rin's face, and how dark and long his eyelashes had been, and how beautiful they had looked splayed across the delicate hollow above Rin's cheek bones. Rin's skin had been a lot darker than Nitori's own, but he was sure that was because the other boy spent so much more time on the surface, and even with the slight tan, Rin's skin had been flawless and smooth and above all else pretty.

"Rin," he breathes; lightly dozing off – and the last thing he sees before drifting off completely is Rin's face above his own, soft red locks cascading down the side of his cheeks – the image so vivid he can practically feel the ends of Rin's hair tickling his nose.

* * *

When Nitori wakes up again later, Rin's name is on his lips and his whole body feels warmer than he'd ever felt before. He slides his right arm out, moaning in bliss at the cooler sheets, before attempting to roll over and alleviate some of the burn prickling at his skin – only to promptly shoot up in bed.

His underwear is stuck to his front, and when he spots several unevenly sized pearls scattered across his bed he is mortified. His face initially goes red – embarrassment and guilt sneaking up on him, before he turns stark white when he realizes he needs to hide these before his mother finds them. He scrambles to gather them up in his hands and within a matter of seconds he is standing in the middle of his bedroom, hands held out in front of him as he frantically turns in half circles looking for a place to stash the pearls.

He hears his mother's voice calling him downstairs for breakfast and he freezes in place for a split second before his eyes land on his desk and he rushes across the room, transferring the pearls into one hand so he can yank open the nearest drawer he can get his hands on, and then unceremoniously dumping them inside. Once the drawer is shut, he collapses into his desk chair – silently thankful he never bothered to push his chair back in whenever he was finished using it. He takes a moment to press the palms of his hands against his cheeks in an attempt to cool his face down. His brain feels fuzzy and he is sure he looks as frazzled as he feels and so he smacks both of his cheeks once in an attempt to steel his nerves before going down stairs.

Nitori had never had a dream like that before – vivid and hot. And it wasn't even that bad he thinks - all he can remember are flashes of Rin's face – sharp teeth and lips against lips. It's hardly something to be flustered about, but there was no denying how undeniably warm it had made him and he doesn't dare to look at his bed because in his dream that's where they had been sitting – legs crossed and facing one another. It is embarrassing and unrealistic but in the moment had been thrilling and Nitori isn't sure which part had excited him more – that they had been kissing, or that Rin had been here, in Samezuka.

His mother calls for him again, and Nitori scolds himself for getting lost in his thoughts. He takes a few deep, calming breaths and hopes his parents don't notice how red his face is.

Of course, it had been wishful thinking, because upon walking into the dining room, his mother had rushed to him asking if he had a fever. He had denied it vehemently of course, and after making up some excuse as to why he needed to be in school early today, he snatched a piece of fruit off the table and dashed out the front door.

* * *

He ran the entire way to school, and then locked himself in one of the stalls to catch his breath – not wanting to be seen out of breath, hunched over, and with his hands on his knees as he tried to calm his breathing.

By the time classes started, Nitori had calmed down enough to look relatively normal, but he hadn't paid the least bit of attention the entire day – instead thinking about how embarrassing and hectic this whole morning had been and wondering how he could ever face Rin again.

At the end of the day, he dragged his feet the whole way home.

Normally he would rush home, change quickly, and then be out the door before his mother even had time to greet him - but today he somewhat dreaded seeing Rin and he wanted to be mad at his dream, but felt like he had no one to blame but himself.

* * *

His mother wasn't in the kitchen like she usually was when he got home, so Nitori went upstairs to set his backpack down, before going back down and finding his mother standing in front of the alter where she kept photos, and tears, and other mementos.

"Hi Mom," he greeted, jumping a bit when she whirled around – a big grin on her face as she approached him.

"Aiichiro, why didn't you tell me?!"

Nitori couldn't remember the last time he had seen his mother _this_ excited, and when he noticed she had something cupped in her hand, he instantly became wary.

"Why didn't I tell you about what?" he asked tentatively, and his mother just chuckled before sticking her arm out in front of him and uncurling her palm to reveal a small, smooth pearl.

'No,' he thought, and he could practically feel the mortification crawling up the whole of his body, "No."

His mother started chattering, "My baby boy had his first wet dream – made his first pearl – this is going on the mantel – I need to make a placard, 'Aiichiro's First Pearl' and oh I bet your father wants to hear about all this~!"

It took another couple of seconds of his mother's rambling, before Nitori was snapping out of his daze and snatching the pearl from his mother, "Where did you get this?!" he yelled, voice cracking towards the end and only serving to further embarrass him.

"I found it under your desk when I was gathering your laundry this morning," she explained and Aiichiro realized he must have dropped one of them in his scramble to hide them.

His mother seemed to catch on to his embarrassment and patted his shoulder, "Don't be so embarrassed sweetie – everybody does it. In fact, your grandmother kept your father's first pearl – it's a rite of passage for becoming a man - making pearls that is."

It wasn't comforting at all, especially when his mother started giggling and talking about how her 'baby boy is becoming a man' and how she wished she could make pearls too.

His mother then asked him for the pearl back, to which Nitori had screeched 'no' and raced up to his room – intent on gathering the rest of the pearls and finding a place to bury them or something before - heaven forbid - his mother found them.

He was so embarrassed he wouldn't be surprised if his face became permanently red.

Aiichiro knew that like tears, semen would turn into a jewel as well, and had even seen people decorate with them and it hadn't bothered him whatsoever, but knowing they were his, and knowing what it was that had caused it, brought a wave of discomfort and embarrassment Nitori was not ready for.

In the end, he kept the pearls in his drawer, and couldn't bring himself to visit Rin – instead choosing to stay in his room, where eventually his father came up to talk to him.

That talk had been embarrassing too, but he was silently thankful when he father went on to explain how to prevent the pearls – which involved smearing them before they became droplets and that had also explained why the front of his briefs had been sticky. His father said most men gave them to one of the guys who worked on the docks of Iwatobi to sell and had offered to take Nitori's but what didn't seem to be a big deal to his father was to Nitori and so he turned down the offer, determined to keep this from happening ever again.

His mother had pouted all dinner about not being able to display the keepsake and Aiichiro wondered if he would ever be able to live this down.

* * *

It took a whole week before Nitori felt he was over the whole incident enough to go visit Rin and immediately upon seeing Rin storming towards the pier, was struck with overwhelming guilt before dunking under. He waited until Rin had angrily thrown himself down into his usual spot before announcing his presence with a quiet, "Hello."

Rin stiffened and Nitori had not even a second to dive back under water with a splash, as Rin angrily whirled around to look at him.

It was muffled, but Nitori could hear the other boy yelling at him – mostly just 'You idiot!' and Nitori bit his lip because he had clearly upset Rin, and Aiichiro felt he was a hundred percent at fault. It took a while, but eventually Rin huffed, before turning around and Nitori cautiously re-emerged.

"I'm really sorry," he said, and felt even more so when he found himself unable to give Rin a reason as to why he suddenly stopped showing up for a week without any forewarning.

There were more insults from Rin, before finally he was saying quietly, "I thought you hated me."

"I could never hate you!" Nitori had yelled.

To which Rin had responded, "Well how was I supposed to know that stupid? You just stop showing up one day so what else am I supposed to think?! I thought maybe you got in trouble or hurt or found someone better or… or something."

"I'm sorry," Aiichiro said again, "I won't do it again. I promise. You're my best friend – I'm sorry." He could feel tears welling in his eyes, and had to keep putting his head underwater to rub at the corners of his eyes, lest he start full on crying.

"Just don't do it again," Rin had finally said and Nitori felt relieved when Rin told him to tell him about his week.

He left all the details out about the incident and instead talked about school and how the water seemed to be getting colder recently and how his mother mentioned the other night there would be a big storm coming.

"I think I heard something about that on the news," Rin said, "But they said it wasn't going to be that bad."

Nitori just frowned at that – because from the way his mother was speaking it sounded like it was going to be worse than the storm they had had months ago.

"Well my mom wants me to stay away from the surface for a while," he said and Rin nodded - though sounded a bit put off at the news.

"I can probably still come tomorrow though," he offered and with that, they both agreed on the usual time after class.

* * *

It was raining when Nitori popped up by the pier the next afternoon, and he had been enthralled by it for a good while – fascinated by how cold it felt compared to the ocean and thinking he'd never seen the clouds so dark.

It became clear early on that Rin wouldn't be showing up and if the people running for shelter further up the coast were anything to go by, Nitori was sure Rin's mother hadn't let him leave the house.

He chose to play in the rain for a bit longer, though ended up deciding to go home early when the winds picked up and he got smacked in the face by a discarded scrap of newspaper.

It was just as he was about to dive under, that he heard faint voices over the wind and rain and noticed the men on the docks further down– boats lined up along the sides as they loaded cargo onto them.

Down in Samezuka, the people could usually tell when a big storm was coming before people in Iwatobi did, but Nitori knew they usually told the surface people about the forecast.

"I hope they aren't planning to leave dock," he mused aloud – absently remembering what Rin had said yesterday about how the storm wasn't going to be that bad.

Sure there was no thunder or lightning yet, but even without that – if the winds got wild enough the ocean would hardly be forgiving. He watched the men on the dock for a moment longer, before quickly heading home.

At dinner, Nitori tentatively brought up the men he saw on the dock. His mother scolded him for swimming up towards the surface – to which he swore would be the last time until the storm passed.

"It looked like they were getting ready to leave," he said and his mother 'tsk'ed in annoyance.

"Thank you Aiichiro," his father said, "I'll mention it in the meeting tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, those people in Iwatobi can be quite stubborn and if they've decided the storm won't be bad even with our original warning, then there's no guarantee that they will listen to us again tomorrow."

The conversation died down after that, and after he was finished eating, Nitori excused himself to his room.

The water felt cold and Nitori couldn't help the chill that ran down his back as he got ready for bed that night. He curled up in bed, covers tucked tightly around him and hands under his pillow, clutching his bracelet in his hands.

Aiichiro never had trouble sleeping before, but tonight he found himself unable to sleep as his thoughts kept drifting to the men on the pier – how they had to yell over the wind and how dark the sky had been and when Nitori finally did fall asleep it was fitful and restless.


	5. Chapter 5

It is dark, and cold, and Nitori knows it is a dream even before the shadows dancing across the walls peel away and scatter into the darkness. He is walking down a long, winding hall, and the Head Priest stands at his side, faceless - a torch of sacred fire in one of his hands, and prayer beads in another.

He knows it is a dream not because of the snickering shadows chasing him along the walls as he walks, and not because the Priest's face is shapeless and blank. He knows because he is moving further and further into the depth of what is undoubtedly the Sea God's Temple.

He wants to ask where they are heading, but cannot seem to find the words, and doubts the Priest would answer anyway.

The further he walks the colder and darker it seems to get, and Nitori's arms are prickled with goose bumps by the time they step into a large, open chamber.

A blue and white throne adorned in jewels sits front and center, and behind it is a large, black pit that makes Nitori shiver. On the throne sits a shadowy figure, and though Nitori cannot see him clearly and has never seen the Sea God in anything other than paintings, he is positive this figure is him.

He goes to take a step closer, when a cold boney hand snatches his wrist and Nitori cries out in surprise as he looks behind him, where the Head Priest holds his captured wrist. When Nitori yanks his wrist away, the necklace of prayer beads that had been in the priest's hands break and Aiichiro can only cringe as they scatter to the floor.

The Head Priest says nothing, before turning his head to the floor and walking out the way they had come.

When Aiichiro turns back around towards the throne, he is surprised to see an older, taller version of himself standing before him. The shadowy Sea God from before is standing at his side as he leads him towards the pit. Nitori stares in shock, eyes zeroing in on the Sea God's hand where he points with a long slender finger down into the pit.

Nitori is frozen in place, but he sees the other version of himself tilt his head down, peering into the chasm. There is a beat of silence before the older him is stumbling backwards.

The Sea God leans towards him, whispering in his ear and whatever it is he is saying makes the older Nitori scream.

And when Aiichiro wakes up he is screaming too.

* * *

Nitori's mother has him stay home from school, and so he is lying in bed on his side, staring out his window. He was too old to be staying home just because of a nightmare and though Nitori has already long forgotten what had happened in it, his mother had clearly noticed how shaken up he was and insisted he stay in bed.

The weather wasn't too good anyway – the water was unseasonably cold and the underwater current strong. So he had an inkling of a feeling class would have let out early anyway. He hoped so. In a small town like this where everyone knew everybody, it would be impossible to not notice his absence. And so someone would surely ask where he'd been and Nitori had never been all too good of a liar.

His bedroom window had a nice view of his mother's garden, and while he normally found looking at it calming, the same wasn't to be said for today. The harsh currents were pushing against the plants, forcing them to bend over and Nitori cringed in fear that the stalks of some of the smaller plants would break. It made him think back to several months ago, around the time he had first seen Rin and how a storm had hit and destroyed some of the crops. He hoped Rin was all right. Usually the storms were worse on the surface, and yet it seemed as if it was Samezuka that always took the brunt of the damage, so he figured he shouldn't worry too much.

But just thinking about Rin brought that nagging feeling back – he felt as if something was wrong and he couldn't quite wrap his head around it because he'd been so happy to see Rin again and it wasn't as if they'd argued recently either so he couldn't quite pin point why it was he felt so bad.

Aiichiro sighed, squeezing his eyes shut to chase the thoughts away, before opening them again to look out the window – he should probably ask his mother if she wanted help tying the plants to stakes later.

He woke up later to the feel of a cool hand pressed against his forehead, and he tiredly blinked up his mother, not realizing he'd fallen back asleep.

"How are you feeling?" she asked and Nitori slowly sat up, covers pooling around his waist.

"I'm good. Is it time for dinner?"

"Just about, you feel up to eating?"

Nitori's stomach grumbled in response before both he and his mother started laughing, "Sounds like it," he said, feeling better than he had earlier. A glance out the window told him that unlike his mood, the storm hadn't lightened up any. He spotted a broken plant and frowned, "Do you want me to tie the plants up?" he asked, and his mother's gaze fell to the window as well.

"Oh my," she gasped, hand coming up to cover her mouth, "I completely forgot – are you feeling well enough to do it?"

"Yeah,"

"Well if you're sure, then you can do that while I finish up dinner. Your father should be here any minute so I'll send him out to help you as well."

"Okay."

* * *

The next morning, Nitori stood outside with his mother, surveying the damage that had been done to their garden. Some debris had been swept in by the current, effectively ruining all of the work he and his father had put in last night trying to protect the plants.

"Well it can't be helped," his mother was saying - her hands clasped together as she nervously wrung her hands. It was too late in the season to start over and so their only choice was to gather up any half ripe – bruised vegetables that had avoided being squashed, and hope the villages main crops hadn't been ruined like they had in the last bad storm that had hit.

Since classes were closed again, Nitori readied himself to go to the market with his mother – she wanted to get some things as well as gossip with some of the other town women.

* * *

It is half way into their walk that Nitori sees it – a glint of red sparkling in the sand. He stops in his place, eyeing the sparkling gem, while his mother continues chattering to herself and walks ahead without him.

Nitori had never seen a ruby before – but he is sure this is one – and a chill runs down his spine as he picks the jewel up and turns it over in his hand. It is a deep red color, the cut of it unexpectedly jagged – not smooth at all like he was used to. It feels impossibly warm in his hand and when his mother turns around to ask him why he's stopped walking, he quickly curls his hand into a fist before shoving the stone into his pocket.

'Rubies are forbidden,' he thinks to himself, and yet he can't find it in himself to speak up, 'Rubies are forbidden,' he thinks again, and it's almost as if the jewel is burning a hole into his hand as he clutches it in his fist – it burns because he knows exactly why it is their people do not use the red jewel in their village.

When they reach the town center, people are in a frenzy and Nitori spots his father standing in the crowd, trying to pacify the people along with other members of the council. His father catches his eye, face turning white before he is bowing to the person he was talking to and jogging over to him and his mother.

"What's going on?" his mother asks, voice frantic. From where he and his mother were standing they could hear bits and pieces of the many conversations going around – Nitori wasn't sure what happened but he knew it was bad.

"Aiichiro," his father said, and Nitori flinched – a little surprised his father was addressing him, "You should go home."

"Why? What happened?" he asked, and he couldn't keep the shrill tone out of his voice - not able to hide the fact that he was frightened.

His father looked conflicted, teeth biting into his lip in thought, "Some boats from Iwatobi were caught in the storm and sunk," was all he said, but Nitori knew there was more to it.

"Now I need you to go home Aiichiro- you can go to Tanaka-san's next door if you want, but I need to talk to your mother."

Nitori hesitated, wanting to ask what had happened to the people on the boats, but his father's expression was grim and Aiichiro wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Go on home sweetie," his mother cooed, using the voice she always used when comforting him – even though she was just as out of the loop as Aiichiro himself was, "I'll be back in a little while."

He stared at both of his parents a moment longer, before turning his gaze to the town people who were still congealed in the center of the town – talking fast and worried.

"… Okay," he said, "Okay." And then he was turning on his heel and running in the direction he had come.

His mouth felt dry as he ran towards Tanaka-san's house – mind whirring a thousand miles a second as he took in the information about the sunken ships. It must have been bad – it had to be bad, because ships had sunk before and Nitori had never seen the whole of Samezuka as frantic as he'd just seen them. Something else was happening – something more was happening, and Nitori knew – knew it had something to do with the ruby he'd found earlier.

* * *

Tanaka-san was not home when Nitori got to his house, so he went around to the back where the older man kept a private garden of his own. Today was his day off, and he was almost always out here tending to his garden when he wasn't working on the surface.

When he wasn't out there, Nitori wondered if maybe he had caught wind of whatever it was that was happening, and had gone out.

He thought about just going home but decided against it. Both his parents were busy and Tanaka-san wasn't home, so now was as good a time as any to go up towards Iwatobi. He wouldn't breach the surface, but there wouldn't be any harm in heading towards the outskirts of Samezuka. If the water was calm there then he'd feel a lot more relieved – and the quietness outside the village had always comforted him.

He didn't think he'd be able to slip past the people in the center of town, so he opted to go the long way around – not wanting to be caught.

It was as Nitori neared the outskirts of Samezuka that he spotted another ruby – this one bigger than the last and his skin prickled as he pocketed it.

As he walked, he recalled a saying his mother had once said, about how bad things came in threes – and it was shortly after Nitori had picked up his third ruby that he spotted a trail of them – scattered across the ocean floor.

Until this moment he had been hoping that these rubies were no big deal – that someone had accidentally scraped themselves or something and hadn't noticed.

Because you see, rubies were made from the blood of the people of Samezuka. Sure, Nitori had fallen and scraped his knees up as a kid, but a little scrape wouldn't produce enough blood to turn into a ruby – and he'd never seen his parents get hurt either.

Rubies were forbidden because they were a product of pain and suffering. If someone accidentally injured themselves, the rubies would be destroyed – Nitori didn't know all the details but his father said it had something to do with purifying the stones with the Sea God's fire.

As Nitori broke into a run, following the trail of rubies – he could see a large shadow in the distance and it didn't take much thought to realize what it was – splintered wood from a ship and enough rubies to kill a man.

As he got closer, he saw a hunched over figure, shoulders shaking as he sat cross-legged in front of what seemed to be another prone figure lying motionless on the ground. The hunched over man was sobbing, drops of beryl joining the rubies scattered around him.

"Tanaka-san!" Nitori screamed, recognizing the old man as he got closer – he was injured, back scraped up by what had undoubtedly been pieces of the ship that had sunk – it looked painful and it had been his intention to help the man tend to his wounds, before his attention fell to the figure on the ground.

It was a man Nitori had never seen before – his clothes from Iwatobi. Nitori's knees shook as he placed a hand on Tanaka-san's shoulder as the old man continued to weep. His eyes fell back onto the man, stomach twisting in knots the longer he stared.

Something wasn't right.

There were too many rubies here to just be Tanaka's – but this man was not a villager here in Samezuka.

"Tanaka-san," Nitori breathed, throat tight, and leg burning as he felt the weight of the rubies resting in his pocket, "This man…"

"Aiichiro," Tanaka finally said, and Nitori dropped his gaze to the old man, grip on his shoulder tightening, "This man… saved me but at the cost of his life." He muttered, wiping his sleeve against his nose, "He is a fool. He should have never come back."

The comment brought a wave of uncertainty and fear that came crashing down atop Nitori's shoulders – cold and heavy and Aiichiro found himself falling to his knees, and against Tanaka's side.

Should have never come back. Whoever this man was, Nitori was sure he was someone who had once lived in Samezuka. And since Nitori had never seen him before despite the sea village being so small, he knew this man had probably been one of the few who chose to leave and never come back.

Until now, everything had felt so surreal – the panic and worry and fear that everyone had been feeling had not been his own. Perhaps it had been the adrenaline and the shock that had kept Nitori a safe distance away from everything; people died all the time – it was a course of life – though Nitori himself had never witnessed death.

He did not know this man, and never would – but his heart ached as he stared at him, and he found himself bursting into tears and unable to stop. He felt sick too – sicker than he had the other night - and for the first time in Nitori's life, he realized the cruelty of death.


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't much longer of Nitori sitting by Tanaka-san's side in silence before his mother came running into the clearing. Apparently she had made it home fairly quickly and had panicked when both he and Tanaka-san had been missing.

Aiichiro had turned to look at her when he heard the footsteps, and he watched as her relief from finding them slid off her face – her skin going sickly white upon seeing the rubies scattered all around them - and then had down right panicked when Nitori mentioned that someone had died.

If Aiichiro had had doubts before about the man being from Samezuka, they had quickly washed away when the man's body had begun to fade – melting into sea foam and then dispersing out into the water around them. That was the fate of their kind – the people from the Sea were never truly lost - they became one with the sea – carrying with them their final thoughts and feelings on the current.

His mother had seemed like she had wanted to drag him away, but instead she ran her hand through his hair before saying in a shaky voice to stay put – that she was going to go get his father.

Tanaka-san was still crying – but they had simpered out into quiet sobs and sniffles as the old man stared religiously at the spot the man who had saved him once laid. Tanaka-san had called the man a fool earlier, for saving him Nitori presumed – perhaps it was something that came with being adult, but Aiichiro thought that if someone had risked their life to save him, he'd be grateful. But there wasn't a single ounce of gratitude to be seen on the aged man's face.

Later, both his parents plus some men from the Samezuka council where his father worked came into the clearing looking solemn as his mother led the way.

Aiichiro watched as his father went to Tanaka-san's side, while the other men set about gathering up the rubies for what Nitori presumed would be disposal – he said not a word about the three rubies which had gone cold in his pocket.

As he and his mother walked home, Aiichiro asked his mother why Tanaka-san had been so sad. Sure, he had been sad too, but that feeling had quickly diminished into a dull ache in his chest and it hadn't been long before he had realized he had not a single tear left to cry. It wasn't just that though – Tanaka-san was more than sad – he seemed to be completely and utterly crushed. His wife had passed several years back – had slipped away late one night unexpectedly – though Nitori couldn't remember seeing Tanaka-san this wounded.

His mother had just squeezed his shoulder and hadn't said a word to him on the matter until after they had gotten back home and were seated on the sofa together.

From his mother's story, Aiichiro had learned that the Tanaka's had had one child together – a boy who, though his mother had not known personally, had been his father's best friend when they were kids. She did not know the details, but when they had turned sixteen; his father's friend had gone to work on the surface. There, he had met a girl and though the Tanaka's had not opposed of their relationship, other people in the village did and it had apparently caused problems for the family. A couple years later, his father's friend had left without so much as a goodbye and he hadn't been seen since.

"Will we hold a funeral for him?" he had asked, but his mother merely shook her head in response.

In Samezuka, when one person was lost, everyone mourned – they were a tightly woven village, and with how small it was everyone was practically family. The fact that the whole of Samezuka wouldn't mourn the loss of Tanaka-san's only remaining family member made Nitori's chest ache. When had their people become so cruel? Was leaving for the surface really that bad? Nitori didn't think so – but he supposed his opinion did not matter.

* * *

After that, the storm had completely passed – leaving behind warm waters and a soft current. Gone were the whispers and ominous looks from the other villagers, and it almost seemed as if all the bad things from the other day had just never happened. It was almost like a breath of fresh air – except Aiichiro couldn't help but feel bitter about everything. Just because the people acted like everything was alright, didn't mean it was – Tanaka-san's son had still been lost.

This afternoon, his family would be holding a wake with Tanaka-san, and though Nitori and his mother had not known his son, it was painstakingly obvious that both Tanaka-san and Aiichiro's father were taking the death very hard.

With it being nearly a week since Nitori had last seen Rin, he decided that today after class he would look for him on the pier before heading home. Even with everything that had been happening here in Samezuka, Nitori couldn't help but worry about the other boy.

He actually would have liked to have gone to visit Rin sooner, but now that he couldn't take the long way to Iwatobi, he had to cut through the town center, and though he was used to doing that – the people had been in a frenzy there up until a day ago. But now that the activity had died down, Aiichiro was able to slip by unnoticed.

As he drew closer to the surface, he wondered if Rin had been waiting on him – he hoped not, but he couldn't help the excitement that bubbled in his chest at the idea that maybe he had. It was warmer closer to the surface and Aiichiro could practically feel the sun's rays penetrating the water. He wished he didn't have to go home so early today – especially since Rin's curfew was before dark, so on sunny days he got to stay out longer.

The first thing that reached Aiichiro's ears when he popped up a little ways away from the pier, was screaming and he was immediately reminded of the time he had first seen Rin – how the older boy had been fighting with some other kids. Nitori was already thinking of ways to dispel the fighting without revealing himself, when he finally took in what it was he was seeing.

A line of flowers – Nitori wasn't sure what kind - were laid out onto the edges of the pier, and Rin was standing to next to them, angrily kicking the bouquets off the edge and into the water – shouts of "stupid" and "I hate you" punctuating each kick.

A crying girl stood off to the side – tears streaming down her cheeks as she rubbed at her eyes and yelled, "Big brother stoooop!" over and over again. Nitori had never seen her before, but there was no way it wasn't Rin's little sister Gou – the one Rin had stolen the beads from to make Aiichiro's birthday present.

Nitori turned his attention back to Rin who was now standing on the pier motionless – panting heavily as he caught his breath.

Nitori wanted to ask what had happened, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he already knew.

Rin's father worked on a fishing boat and a few fishing boats had sunk – several men from Iwatobi having died. It wasn't a hard puzzle to solve, though Nitori almost wished he hadn't.

Nitori bit his lip, staring down at the water in thought. He couldn't approach Rin while he was acting like this – and especially not with Gou standing right there.

Even now though, it still surprised Aiichiro how easily Rin could call his father names and claim to hate him – especially now that he had…

Rin yelled again and Nitori looked up from the water to look at Rin – just in time to be smacked in the face with a bouquet of flowers.

He couldn't help the yelp that tore from his throat and then froze in place when he realized what had happened. The flowers hit the water with a splash, and before Aiichiro knew it, he had locked eyes with Rin.

The other boy was just staring at him – expression slack jawed – and Nitori briefly thought he looked as beautiful as he remembered, before shaking the thought away.

He was hyper aware of Gou's sobs abruptly cutting off, and his eyes flicked over to her – the small girl staring at him much like Rin was.

Aiichiro felt sick.

He cast one last glance at Rin – who had opened his mouth as if to say something – before scrambling to grab the flowers floating in front of him and then darting away beneath the water's surface and swimming away to Samezuka as fast as he could.

'Oh no,' he thought frantically, 'Oh no.'

* * *

He felt terrible.

Terrible because he'd broken his promise to himself to never reveal himself – keeping his name and face hidden had been somewhat of a failsafe for him – the way he comforted himself and told himself there would be no chance of anyone finding out he was interacting with people on the surface.

But more importantly, he felt terrible because of Rin.

Aiichiro wondered if the other boy was hurt – no, mad – that Nitori had run off. Would he understand why it was Nitori did what he did – because he was scared? Or, should Nitori have just gone ahead and comforted Rin now that the proverbial fish was out of the bowl? Surely, Rin must be hurting –a friend's comforting hand being what he needed in the moment. But would Nitori have even been able to comfort him? Would Rin have even wanted his comfort?

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt – conflicted on what it is he should do – on what was right. He knew he should be worried for Rin, but he couldn't help but be selfish and think of how he'd accidentally shown himself. He kept telling himself it wasn't a big deal that he'd been seen – that Rin and his sister probably hadn't even seen him that clearly anyway – and that even if he did, it wasn't a big deal anyway – they were friends - he trusted Rin not to go tell everybody about him – hiding his face wasn't doing much anyway.

But he also knew that if his mother – or worse, his father – knew he had been seen by a human, they would be so upset with him and probably make him go straight home after school to make sure he didn't go up to the surface anymore. And that was the last thing Aiichiro wanted.

Nitori lingered outside the outskirts of Samezuka for ages – the flowers he had grabbed in his panic having long since wilted – crushed by the pressure and poisoned by the salt water. Aiichiro stared sadly at the flowers as he worked on calming himself down – though they didn't help much because they really just served as a reminder as to how the sea and the surface didn't seem to mix.

After he'd calmed his racing heart, ditching the flowers as he slowly made his way into town, Aiichiro found his thoughts wandering to Rin's father. He'd never met the man personally, but Nitori knew how much Rin loved him – and from that time Nitori had briefly seen him scolding Rin on the pier – he'd seemed so gentle in his actions, and it was obvious he adored Rin as well.

He had looked a lot like Rin too – just older and more handsome – though there was no denying that Rin must have his mother's hair because Rin's father… Nitori back peddled.

Rin's father… for having only seen it once from a distance, the man's face was strikingly familiar. If Nitori concentrated, Nitori felt as if he had seen the man again – but that wasn't – he hadn't…

His mind wandered back to the other day – when Tanaka-san had lost his son… The man there… Nitori was sure he hadn't seen him before, but now he didn't feel so sure.

But – Nitori shook his head frantically; it couldn't be. Rin's last name was Matsuoka – not Tanaka.

Nitori gasped, "Oh no!"

Speaking of Tanaka, they were going to hold the wake this afternoon – he needed to hurry and get home now, otherwise he'd be late.

* * *

Aiichiro had never been to a funeral that wasn't held in the courtyard grounds outside the Sea God's Temple. Typically, lanterns of scared fire were strung up between the pedestals that lined the courtyard, and the people would form a procession in the center. A stone alter was located off to the left side of the temple, and it was where the people would pay their respects. Like with Tanaka-san's son, the body of the deceased would have long since been gone, and so a decorative box was placed in the center of the alter, where the people would take turns lighting incense with scared fire and placing it in the box. The smoke from the incense was supposed to represent the Sea God's fire becoming one with the sea foam of the deceased – old lore said that if the incense curled and formed a scale, it was the union of the deceased and the Sea God, and the scale was said to live on in the temple – representing the people's hopes and prayers.

After all the incense has been lit, and the people have prayed, the Head Priest would take the box of ashes and disappear with it into the temple.

As for what the priest did with it, Nitori wasn't sure, but he and the others simply assumed there was a mausoleum located somewhere within the temples walls, where the priest would place the ashes.

The private wake they held at Tanaka-san's home was a lot different, though the same in essence.

Tanaka-san already had a small wooden alter from when his wife had passed, so the man had placed his son's photo on it as well. It was an old picture, taken long before Aiichiro had been born and it didn't quite fit right in the frame. It was obvious by the crease on the right, that the photo had been folded in half to hide the other person in the image – and judging by the fond look in his father's eyes when he kneeled before the alter, he was the other person in the picture.

Both his father and Tanaka-san spent a long time in front of the alter, and so Aiichiro and his mother sat on the other side of the room after having paid their respects – talking quietly amongst themselves as the two older men reminisced on old times.

"What was Tanaka-san's name?" Nitori asked quietly.

"His name was Shouyou," was her whispered reply.

"Shouyou," Aiichiro repeated, testing the feel of the name on his tongue. It seemed all much more real now that he had a name to go with the face.

Nitori bit his lip.

"Why didn't Samezuka hold a funeral for him?"

His mother was quiet for a long time, "It's because some people… consider it the ultimate betrayal to leave here forever," she explained. Though it was hardly an explanation, as Aiichiro had already figured that was the case anyway.

"Why do you think Shouyou decided to leave for good?"

His mother stared at him, seemingly thinking on what it is she should say, before shaking her head 'no' and saying nothing more.

But Nitori supposed it made sense for her not to know… He wondered if his father would get mad if he asked him instead.

* * *

After the wake, they all returned to their house – his mother having practically forced Tanaka-san to have dinner with them.

After they had eaten an early meal and Tanaka-san had gone home, Aiichiro followed his father into the living room while his mother cleaned up.

He chatted quietly with his father – easing him into a conversation before he was asking, "Why do you think Shouyou-san decided to leave Samezuka?"

His father froze briefly – looking tired and old in that moment – before sighing heavily, "I can't say I know. But I can say I think Shouyou was happy with living in Iwatobi. He'd met a girl there – love at first sight he said, and I remember thinking he was crazy when he came back after his first day on the surface and told me he had found the woman he was going to marry. He talked about her every single day until he left."

His father stopped talking then, a wry smile on his face, before he was dipping his head to stare at his cupped hands resting between his knees.

He seemed to be unable to find the words to say, and so Aiichiro spoke up.

"What was Shouyou-san's wife like?"

His father turned to look at him, "Well… Shouyou isn't… was never really a man of many words. Well, that's not right – he talked a lot, but he wasn't very eloquent. He mostly talked about how beautiful he thought she was – he said her eyes reminded him of the sun, and that her skin was sun-kissed, and that her hair was like the sunrise. Come to think of it – everything he said about her supposedly reminded him of the sun. Though knowing him, he just said that because I've never actually seen the sun other than what little of it we can see of it down here."

His father didn't seem to have much more to say though – it'd been a long time since Shouyou had left – though he had wondered aloud if Shouyou had ever had any children. Or how his wife was taking the news of his passing; as soon as these words came out of his mouth, his father stopped talking abruptly and frowned deeply.

"… What is it?" Aiichiro asked – his father shaking his head in response.

"I was just thinking… it must be sad for her. I'd reported his passing to the higher ups at work, for one of the Iwatobi representatives to report to the surface. It must be hard though, because the people there don't pass like we do. I think she might have wanted to see him one last time."

His mother came into the living room then – something Aiichiro was grateful for, because he hadn't been sure how to reply to his father's words.

"What are my two favorite men talking about?" his mother asked cheerfully – she was always chipper after cleaning.

"Aah honey," his father responded, "I was just saying to Aiichiro how I hoped Shouyou's wife was taking her husband's passing alright."

His mother looked thoughtful, "You mean his wife Matsuoka-san?"

Nitori froze.

Mastu.. oka?


End file.
